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Shane Gray provides special Rams commentaries on 101sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ShaneGmoSTLRams.
On Saturday night, the St. Louis Rams hosted the Green Bay Packers in their home exhibition opener. In falling to 0-2 on the preseason, several things stood out for St. Louis:
Bradford Back-to-Back
In week one, quarterback Sam Bradford finished 5 of 8 with a touchdown and a 145.8 quarterback rating. In the encore, Bradford again played well, going 8 of 12 for 156 yards in less than two quarters of play. He finished with a QB rating of 109.7. Had Bradford connected on an easy touchdown pass to wide receiver Tavon Austin, those numbers would have been even more impressive.
“Obviously, I’d like to have the throw to Tavon down on the goal line back,” Bradford admitted.
Although the Rams’ first-unit offense has moved the ball relatively well via the air in weeks one and two, they have posted just one touchdown in over three quarters of total work. Obviously, as head coach Jeff Fisher stated following the game, the Rams want to change that.
“Yeah, we would have liked to have seen touchdowns…” Fisher said.
In weeks three and four of the exhibition slate, it would be beneficial for the first-unit offense to punch in some scores before heading into the season opener at home on Sept. 8.
Fisher asserted as much on Monday afternoon.
“We’ve got to get the ball in the end zone,” Fisher said. “We’ve got to get used to doing that.”
Austin Unleashed and Cook Catches On
Rookie first-rounder Austin and prized free-agent addition Jared Cook each went without a reception in the preseason’s first contest.
In week two, however, both got involved with Austin reeling in four catches for 28 yards and Cook hauling in one grab for 37. Although Cook only has one reception thus far, that one reception showed exactly why the Rams spent a pretty penny to acquire his services.
From Bradford’s perspective, that catch was a likely prelude of what’s to come.
“In my four years here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shallow reverse zone get out the back door for 30, 40 yards, whatever it was,” Bradford said. “I think that just shows the type of athlete he is, the type of speed he has, and his ability to create after the ball hits his hands, so I hope that’s just a small sample of what we’ll see the rest of the season, and I’m excited to see him do it.”
As for Austin, a better throw from Bradford near the goal line – as touched on above – would have given him five catches and a touchdown in less than a half versus the Packers. That certainly represents a solid start. Although he needs to work to attain better separation from defensive backs more frequently than he is now, his performance was something to build upon.
“It felt good,” Austin said. “I had a couple catches today. It made me feel like I’m getting a little more comfortable. (I) got my confidence back in myself. Hopefully we just keep going along.”
Not-So-Terrific Tackling
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101sports.com/2013/08/20/rams-review-6-topics-from-green-bay-vs-st-louis/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101sports.com/2013/08/20/ram ... -st-louis/</a>
On Saturday night, the St. Louis Rams hosted the Green Bay Packers in their home exhibition opener. In falling to 0-2 on the preseason, several things stood out for St. Louis:
Bradford Back-to-Back
In week one, quarterback Sam Bradford finished 5 of 8 with a touchdown and a 145.8 quarterback rating. In the encore, Bradford again played well, going 8 of 12 for 156 yards in less than two quarters of play. He finished with a QB rating of 109.7. Had Bradford connected on an easy touchdown pass to wide receiver Tavon Austin, those numbers would have been even more impressive.
“Obviously, I’d like to have the throw to Tavon down on the goal line back,” Bradford admitted.
Although the Rams’ first-unit offense has moved the ball relatively well via the air in weeks one and two, they have posted just one touchdown in over three quarters of total work. Obviously, as head coach Jeff Fisher stated following the game, the Rams want to change that.
“Yeah, we would have liked to have seen touchdowns…” Fisher said.
In weeks three and four of the exhibition slate, it would be beneficial for the first-unit offense to punch in some scores before heading into the season opener at home on Sept. 8.
Fisher asserted as much on Monday afternoon.
“We’ve got to get the ball in the end zone,” Fisher said. “We’ve got to get used to doing that.”
Austin Unleashed and Cook Catches On
Rookie first-rounder Austin and prized free-agent addition Jared Cook each went without a reception in the preseason’s first contest.
In week two, however, both got involved with Austin reeling in four catches for 28 yards and Cook hauling in one grab for 37. Although Cook only has one reception thus far, that one reception showed exactly why the Rams spent a pretty penny to acquire his services.
From Bradford’s perspective, that catch was a likely prelude of what’s to come.
“In my four years here, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shallow reverse zone get out the back door for 30, 40 yards, whatever it was,” Bradford said. “I think that just shows the type of athlete he is, the type of speed he has, and his ability to create after the ball hits his hands, so I hope that’s just a small sample of what we’ll see the rest of the season, and I’m excited to see him do it.”
As for Austin, a better throw from Bradford near the goal line – as touched on above – would have given him five catches and a touchdown in less than a half versus the Packers. That certainly represents a solid start. Although he needs to work to attain better separation from defensive backs more frequently than he is now, his performance was something to build upon.
“It felt good,” Austin said. “I had a couple catches today. It made me feel like I’m getting a little more comfortable. (I) got my confidence back in myself. Hopefully we just keep going along.”
Not-So-Terrific Tackling
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101sports.com/2013/08/20/rams-review-6-topics-from-green-bay-vs-st-louis/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101sports.com/2013/08/20/ram ... -st-louis/</a>
